Ben 10: Alien Force (Reader insert)

Pier Pressure

(Author Note: I hate writing Brainstorm's lines, this man does not stop talking. Also word of the day: appropo nom de guerre which is French for a fake name or pseudonym.) 

Pretending to be fine after what happened at the Hatchery was hard. No matter what I did, or thought, it all circled back to that moment, when I raised the shield and stopped any chance from saving Grandpa Max. 

I could have, if I just had realized, if I just had...

I shook my head, digging it deeper into my pillows. My plush bed doing nothing to sooth anything in my mind. And my shoes were still on, having raced for the privacy I could after returning from Julie's tennis match, refusing to answer any questions mom threw out about the day. 

A sense of normalcy that Gwen had insisted that Ben and I accepted after all that had happened recently. One that I still felt did nothing to shake the weight I was now carrying. 

Huffing, I tossed onto my side, starring out the window to the light was still streaming through strongly. A battle I wanted it to loose in the dimness that claimed my room. 

I could have done better.

The words ringed my head, pressure building gearing towards another headache.

A knock at the door forced me to face reality. Sitting up, I cried out, "What?"

"Someone's here to see you." Mom opened the door, a smug smile itching up her features. 

"What are you talking about? All my friends went home already." I mumbled. 

"Not all of them." she answered, stepping aside and shoving Ben into the room. 

His green eyes were wide and wild, a blush coating his face, and he stumbled to stay upright as mom cracked the door. It was enough privacy for whatever reason, but still able to hear what went down. 

Nosy, that's what she is. Still....

A blush, against my will, crawled up my face. I turned away so Ben wouldn't see it. "Thought you went home." 

"I was gonna, but Gwen and Kevin they, well...It's not important." Ben stumbled over his words behind me, footsteps followed and a dip in the bed warned that he had sit down. 

My thoughts turned to Grandpa Max, and how he had become more reserved and then all I could think about was how this conversation was probably just a push from Gwen to get Ben to be more open about what happened. How I didn't save his grandfather.

The bubbly heat from my face died away after that. 

I turned around as well, having waved off enough of the blush that it wouldn't be obvious. Legs stretched out beside Ben's I refused to meet his gaze. "So, why are you here?"

"Well, I....came to ask, if your free and know that you have no pressure to agree and it's really not that big of a deal now that I think about it but-"

"Ben, just tell me." I cut him off. 

A silence fell over us, oppressing and definitely starting to edge on uncomfortable. Then Ben spoke,

"I wanted to ask if you wanted to go out to the pier." He whispered. 

The blush returned with a vengeance. I looked to the space between out legs, seeing Ben's hand inching towards my own hand. "Tonight?" 

Ben's hand paused, and a sharp intake of breath followed. "I....yeah?" His voice was now high-pitched. 

I stared at our two hands, so close but not quite touching, but the itch to bridge the gap felt stronger than ever. I didn't. "Okay." I said instead. "Yeah, let's go to the pier tonight."